Mattie Miracle Walk 2023 was a $131,249 success!

Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation Promotional Video

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to us that you take the time to write to us and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful to us and help support us through very challenging times. To you we are forever grateful. As my readers know, I promised to write the blog for a year after Mattie's death, which would mean that I could technically stop writing on September 9, 2010. However, at the moment, I feel like our journey with grief still needs to be processed and fortunately I have a willing support network still committed to reading. Therefore, the blog continues on. If I should find the need to stop writing, I assure you I will give you advanced notice. In the mean time, thank you for reading, thank you for having the courage to share this journey with us, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.


As Mattie would say, Ooga Booga (meaning, I LOVE YOU)! Vicki and Peter



The Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation celebrates its 7th anniversary!

The Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation was created in the honor of Mattie.

We are a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. We are dedicated to increasing childhood cancer awareness, education, advocacy, research and psychosocial support services to children, their families and medical personnel. Children and their families will be supported throughout the cancer treatment journey, to ensure access to quality psychosocial and mental health care, and to enable children to cope with cancer so they can lead happy and productive lives. Please visit the website at: www.mattiemiracle.com and take some time to explore the site.

We have only gotten this far because of people like yourself, who have supported us through thick and thin. So thank you for your continued support and caring, and remember:

.... Let's Make the Miracle Happen and Stomp Out Childhood Cancer!

A Remembrance Video of Mattie

December 1, 2012

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Saturday, December 1, 2012


Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2008. Mattie was home between treatments. As you can see, his left arm was wrapped up in a cast from his second limb salvaging surgery. In addition, his right leg was also healing from a limb salvaging surgery. Yet Mattie decided to hobble over to the piano, sit down, and peck away at the keys. Mattie wasn't playing a song per se, he was creating his own piece. It was beautiful actually and I remember it so well.





Quote of the day: What you are to do without me I cannot imagine. ~ George Bernard Shaw


For all intensive purposes, I have had this horrible headache for a week now. It is relentless and debilitating. Yet this is a busy time of year for the Foundation and I have a lot of things to do which require computer work. I continue to fight with my bladder condition and I am thrilled to be seeing my doctor on Tuesday. The poor thing will not know what will hit her next week.

Peter and I are told on occasion that Mattie's classmates still remember him, and they have integrated him into their everyday lives. We naturally absorb what we are told, but since we do not see or hear this directly, it is hard to understand this fact. After all, we are not interacting with these children anymore and unless a parent shares a story with us, there is no way we will know that Mattie's memory lingers on. However, today I received two different emails from friends about two totally different issues.

My friend Ann, sent me a message that her daughter, Abbie (who was a friend of Mattie's and was in Mattie's kindergarten class) liked my Holiday centerpiece that I just designed. In fact when Abbie heard that I created this piece she told her mother that Mattie must have gotten his creativity from me. A beautiful compliment to both Mattie and me. Mattie was the king of creativity, he could think outside of the box, and could practically make anything work, run, move, and function. So I was touched by Abbie's comment, and the gift is that it was unsolicited and unexpected.

The second message I received today was from my friend, Alison. Alison wanted me to know that her son, Paul, who was a friend of Mattie's and was also in Mattie's kindergarten class, had received a text message today from a school friend. Apparently this friend was electronically circulating the picture of me with all the Foundation candy! The electronic message was NOT started by an adult. Instead it was inspired by children, children who knew Mattie and who thought that the candy drive was great! Alison sent me the message to let me know that children do remember Mattie and such memories occur within their daily existence.

Somehow hearing these two tangible examples today was very powerful. Because I can keep writing until the cows come home, but I am only one person. It is lovely to know that Mattie intimately touched the lives of so many.

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